


played it cool

by dayevsphil



Series: dayevsphil commissions [10]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Actor Dan Howell, Alternate Universe, Domestic, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, YouTuber Phil Lester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:41:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24340738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dayevsphil/pseuds/dayevsphil
Summary: Phil’s boyfriend is crashing with him while allegedly looking for a place to live in London, but he doesn’t seem to be trying very hard.
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Series: dayevsphil commissions [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1682980
Comments: 13
Kudos: 150





	played it cool

**Author's Note:**

  * For [olfrogbait](https://archiveofourown.org/users/olfrogbait/gifts).



> for amber ♥ this is one of two can't breathe timestamps that i'll be posting this week, and i was so excited about that! thank you so much for the fun prompt, amber, i hope you enjoy!

Phil has been living alone for a very long time. It's been a decade or so since his parents herded him back out of the nest, and he's done a fair bit of moving around since then. The process was a lot easier without anyone to share it with. Get a job opportunity, move to the city it was based in. Rinse and repeat.

Sure, he'd spent his first month or so in London on Martyn's futon while he waited for the BBC paychecks, but he and his brother had always kept such different schedules. They were rarely in the flat at the same time, and Phil was usually asleep while Martyn was at work. That was the closest he'd come to living with someone in a very long time, and he's pretty sure it doesn't even count. 

So it isn't that he doesn't _like_ having Dan here. He does. The couple of months that he'd had to wait for Dan to finish a press tour - and film some scenes so that his character didn't randomly disappear the next season - made Phil touch-starved and needy. He loved having his boyfriend in town, permanently, and it helped that he was a space heater for the chilly November nights. The domesticity of it all was even better after so long apart, watching Dan sing along to whatever music was stuck in his head, having dinner cooking when he got home from work, playing rock paper scissors to see who had to take Thor out in the early mornings.

But... Phil also likes his space.

It is one thing to share a small studio flat with a dog who could fit in a bag, if he were to get a big enough bag, but it is entirely another to share it with his giant of a boyfriend who isn't currently working. Dan is _always_ home, which is a blessing as much as it is a curse. Phil has to sleep and work and live in one room, which hadn't bothered him when the only thing that might interrupt him was an energetic Thor.

Now, he's got Dan's insomnia and hyperactivity and horniness to contend with whenever he wants to get some rest or sit down and answer emails. It's driving Phil a little bit up the wall. He'd never say anything to Dan, but he's just so _used_ to living alone.

The kicker is, really, that Dan doesn't even live here. Not technically.

"No luck," Dan announces on his way into the flat. Thor runs over and winds his way through Dan's long legs, barking once in greeting. Dan giggles and reaches down to give him some pats. Phil sighs, pausing the clip he's editing so that he can give Dan his full attention too. "Hello, you, did you miss me?"

"What was wrong with these places?" Phil asks, mild.

"Two of them weren't pet-friendly," says Dan. He's shucking his boots and jacket off, making a beeline for the fridge as he usually does. Apartment-hunting makes him snacky. "So obviously that wouldn't work."

"Sure, of course not."

"And the other three just didn't _feel_ right, y'know?" Dan asks, his head fully inside the fridge.

Phil doesn't bother resisting the urge to roll his eyes, because Dan can't see him anyway. "They didn't feel right? Dan. What does that even mean?"

"It means they didn't feel right."

With a cheese stick between his teeth, Dan hops over the back of the sofa to join Phil on it. He curls close and looks at Phil's screen with interest, questions already spilling out around his snack, and Phil resigns himself to losing the editing flow again.

\--

Dan has hired someone to do all of the legwork for him, which Phil would be fine with if Dan didn't keep pressing ignore on all the calls from her.

"What if that was the perfect place?" he wheedles, watching Dan slip his phone into his back pocket with a grin.

"I doubt it," says Dan. He keeps stirring the chicken around Phil's wobbly wok, putting his other hand back on the handle of it so that it stops moving around so much. Phil knows he should replace it, but it had been a gift from Bryony. He's got a bit of a problem getting rid of gifts. "Besides, I've already found the perfect place."

"You have?" Phil wonders if his relief is as obvious as it feels, or if his reactions are still being dulled out of muscle memory. Dan has told him not to do that, not to hide, but some things are easier to overcome than others.

The smile on Dan's face widens. Phil feels the need to reach out and poke at the dimple as it appears.

This part is good. Phil likes cooking with Dan, making Dan smile, spending time with Dan. That's good. Phil just wishes that there was a door he could shut or something when he needs time to be alone, because he's on the verge of taking his laptop into the bathroom to finish his videos. He leans in and presses a kiss to Dan's dimple, too, feeling the tiniest surge of guilt for wanting somewhere to hide from the man he loves.

"Yeah," Dan says it like it's obvious. He gestures around the room with the spatula for a moment, and Phil's stomach sinks just before Dan makes the joke. "I'm already here, aren't I?"

\--

It takes Phil three more weeks to muster up the courage he needs to confront Dan about this. Dan has stopped even talking about flats, let alone going out to find any, and Phil's only alone time is when he goes in for the radio show. He hasn't fought with Dan before. Not that this will definitely be a fight, but Phil is anxious. He's always anxious about this part, about asserting his own needs and being blunt with his opinions. The thing is, he can't keep trying to be subtle about pushing Dan to get a place, because Dan clearly isn't picking up on it, and if Phil doesn't at least try to have a conversation about this then they're going to grow old and die in this basement studio together.

He waits until Dan has eaten and Thor has had a long walk, everybody sated and a little tired, before he brings it up with a tentative, "So you're not looking for a flat now?"

Dan hums. They're watching a rerun of Kitchen Nightmares that they've already seen, but it still takes a moment for Dan's gaze to sharpen into something like focus. Phil swears that he is on another planet half the time. Thor is asleep in his bed and Dan's legs are tangled with Phil's own under their couch blanket. It's as good a time for this as any.

"What makes you think that?" Dan hedges. Phil has to laugh.

"You're not exactly sneaky, love," he points out. Dan gives him a sheepish smile, and Phil reaches for his hand. "Do you... want to live with me?"

"Is that an offer?"

"No, it's a question," says Phil.

The smallest furrow appears between Dan's eyebrows, like Phil has already said the wrong thing, but he just nods. "Okay, yeah. I dunno, Phil, I just feel so... safe, here. With you and Thor. I like it here."

Phil guessed as much. He wants to shy away from the conversation now, but he knows that this has to be said. He can totally say this without hurting Dan's feelings.

At least, he hopes he can.

"I love you," he starts, because it still makes Dan smile like he's been given something precious every time he says it. It's like a superpower. Kind of a lame superpower, really, but Phil will take it. "But this place is not big enough for the three of us, Dan. I'm going a little mad."

"Oh." Dan looks surprised, but he doesn't actually seem upset. Phil relaxes a bit. "Okay. So you want me to get my own place?"

The answer to that question should be easy, but it still sticks in Phil's throat. He's lived alone for so long, Thor notwithstanding, and he already knows that he likes it. But there are things he will be giving up, too, things that he's gotten used to since Dan had shown up with suitcases and an ear-splitting grin.

"Not necessarily," Phil finds himself saying instead of what he had planned to. He smiles at Dan and Dan immediately smiles back at him, a bit lopsided and very, very cute. "I just need more than, er, one room to share with you. An office would be nice, so I could actually get some work done. And maybe a bedroom that isn't also connected to our kitchen and telly and front door and - everything, you know, it's all just _right here_."

Dan laughs. "Yeah, I guess it is pretty cramped. I spent most of the year in hotel rooms, so it didn't really phase me. But you're right. We do need more space."

We. Phil kind of loves the sound of that.

"I want big windows," he informs Dan faux-sternly. "And doors that close."

"Think I can manage that," says Dan. He pulls Phil into his lap with a lot more ease than Phil had expected, given their track record.

\--

Phil finds a place that he likes within five days. He will probably never stop teasing Dan for that. They can't actually move in right away, though, because Christmas and all its travelling are right around the corner.

They go to Wokingham first. Phil gets a chance to meet people with Dan's smile and sense of humour, and there are only a couple of awkward moments at the absence of someone that Dan doesn't talk about anymore. Thor and Colin get along famously, chasing each other around the garden and napping on the same armchair, and Karen jokingly suggests that they leave Thor with her until they get back from the Isle. Phil, who has endured flights with Thor more than enough times, says that would be lovely. He offers to spend New Year's together so they can pick him up. Karen is bewildered but happy, Adrian seems excited to have another running partner, and Dan kisses all over Phil's face under some mistletoe when everyone else is chatting about the dogs.

The Isle is less calm and less tense all at once. Phil's family bulldozes past any small awkward moments easily, and Phil already knows how much Dan likes them. They've all spent time together since the first time they'd met - which Dan considers their anniversary, even though Phil maintains that it is coffee and the dog park in early August - and the conversation flows like they've known Dan for years. They talk about moving in together and Martyn says that they already had, really. He might have a point.

When they finally get the papers signed and their mattress set up in the bigger bedroom of their new place, Phil is too excited to sleep.

Luckily, Dan doesn't mind being woken up by a mouth on his neck. Even more luckily, Thor is already sleeping soundly on the sofa. Behind a closed door. No treats necessary to lure him out.

Phil thinks he can get used to this.

**Author's Note:**

> another huge thank you to amber for this prompt! and of course to the beta team for wrangling my sentences, you guys rock.
> 
> reblog on tumblr [here!](https://dayevsphil.tumblr.com/post/618932845709262848/played-it-cool)


End file.
